A561984/Transcript
Prologue Nhadra Watches a Movie JACOB MARLEY'S GHOST: (in a The Christmas Carol movie on television) I am here to warn you tonight that there is yet a chance and a hope of you escaping my fate, a chance and a hope of my securing, Ebenezer, your freedom in the afterlife. Tonight, you will be haunted by three spirits. EBENEZER SCROOGE: Er, is that the chance and hope you mentioned? GHOST: It is. Without their visits, you cannot hope to shun the path I've tread. Expect the first tomorrow when the bell tolls one. (bell tolls) Expect the second on the next night, about the same hour. (bell tolls) Expect the third on the next night, when the last stroke of 12 ceases to vibrate. (bell tolls) At the Hong Kong Airport (PHONE RINGS) Think we can find the woman who called me? Linguists expect your caller is here, specifically from Tehran. London educated. How many Persian speaking women with that accent could be in Hong Kong? We're gonna find her, Dem. We're going all the way. (PHONE RINGS) You really should answer your cell. It's your boss calling. Marshall Vogel, FBI office, Hong Kong. Did you think you were gonna stroll in without immigration flagging your arrival? Mark Benford. This is - Agent Demetri Noh. Badge number 4587, born February 17th, 1977. Potentially murdered, March 15th, 2010. I know about Agent Noh's mystery woman and why you're looking. This is a sovereign territory of communist China, a country that ours believes was responsible for the blackout. So you're here to offer help. Go home, is what I'm saying. If you catch the first flight back, your jobs might still be there. Unless you're willing to arrest us, we'll take our chances. (PHONE RINGS) Hi, cupcake. What part of "stay the hell out of Hong Kong" did you two idiots not understand? Stan, Al Gough did a half-gainer off the building you're in to prove the future can be changed. You two are disobeying a direct order! By the way, I lied to Demetri. I told him you changed your mind about us coming. Merry Christmas. Why'd you tell him you lied to me? Cos if things go south, you're definitely gonna need to keep carrying a gun. The Announcement (TV) "We're live here in Palo Alto, where sources are claiming a major announcement will be made concerning the causes of the blackout." Thank you for attending this press conference. My name is Gordon Myhill. I am the director of the National Linear Accelerator Project. Today we have some important information concerning the events of October 6th that we feel... They're gonna crucify us. What's a little martyrdom between friends? Stick to the points we discussed. Last thing we need is your conscience dragging us further. What does that mean? I won't let you drag me down into your shame just because you're playing Mr Mum. Understood? I'd like to introduce you now to our associate directors of the Plasma-Wakefield Programme, Dr Lloyd Simcoe and Dr Simon Campos. Good, good morning. As Dr Myhill indicated, our speciality is proton-driven plasma-wakefield acceleration. What we're trying to do is to reproduce the kind of energy levels that existed just after the Big Bang on a more controllable scale. We were conducting just such an experiment here on... ..October the 6th, at precisely 1100 hours Pacific Daylight Time. (ALL SHOUT) Please, please! If you could wait a moment, I will take questions. Please. I just need to get to the heart of the matter. Er, we are here today because we believe that the global blackout was precipitated by our experiment. (ALL SHOUT) Please, please. If you just give me a moment, I will take questions in a minute. Please, one moment... Are you taking responsibility for all the death and damage caused by the blackout? We admit that our experiment does seem the most likely cause, yes. happening whatsoever. This was utterly unforeseeable. Scientists experiment all the time. We cannot stop experiments because we are not sure of the results... What does that mean for Mosaic? Game over? Maybe Simcoe caused the blackout... Maybe he didn't. Game's not over. We will be concluding this. We will now be concluding... Please. Please believe me when I say that our hearts go out to anyone who was hurt or lost someone they cared for. My own wife was killed. And I would give anything to have her back. We understand people are scared of another blackout. There won't be ..we assure you that this could not happen again because of this moment, all plasma-wakefield experiments are on hold indefinitely. (GUNSHOTS / SCREAMS) You didn't even apologise! You killed my family! Idiot. We talked about having suspicions, about our work contributing to a phenomenon. clear. You lost all objectivity. You're wilfully ignoring the obvious just to save your own skin. Yeah. It's called the scientific method. It's about collecting empirical evidence and until we can prove empirically that we were the cause, If you will not see my line of reasoning, it's war between us. Act I Orders for Janis Whoa. What happened to your TV? Those scientists. I want them in here yesterday. I want to debrief them. You and seven billion other people. They both disappeared within ten minutes of their announcement. Simon Campos is completely off our radar. Lloyd Simcoe, he had a ticket for a flight to DC that left San Francisco within an hour of his speech. We just found out he wasn't on the plane. Wait. Simcoe. I knew I heard that name before. How and why, Janice? When I was in the hospital, I overheard Olivia Benford talking about Dylan Simcoe. He was a patient that they were treating. He's Lloyd Simcoe's son. Then you're going to wait for him to check on his boy. We don't have any basis for an arrest. Right. This is you. One agent reaching out. That's it. We need to know what he knows. OK. Oh, hey, have you spoken to Mark or Demetri? Yeah. That's what happened to the TV. Zoey Makes a Call (PHONE) "You've reached the Nohs. Leave a message." "(BEEP)" Mrs Noh. This is it. This will be the last time I ask you. You're the parents of the man I love. I want you at our wedding. 'In the future that I saw, you were there and if you say you'll go, it makes it real.' I'm supposed to marry Demetri and I hope to God that this is the message I'm supposed to send so that you go. I love your son more than anything in this world and, ma'am, he loves me. Can you just please help us be together? You're early. Hi. Well, you know, I'm trying to make senior partner one day, too. You going to the memorial tonight? I know you didn't know Joyce well. She was so friendly and so kind to me, so of course. I wouldn't miss it. See you then. Yes. On the Street in Hong Kong OK. This is it. Audio forensics gave us a three-mile radius of where the call was placed. But there are a bunch of good reasons why we might find Eartha right here. Eartha? Well, she kind of sounds like Eartha Kitt, don't you think? What? You know, the Batman TV show. She played Catwoman. You're right. She does sound like Eartha Kitt. Yeah. A Persian, well-educated Eartha Kitt. Listen, there's only two news stands within a block of here that sell Persian newspapers. There's a place around the corner that sells Iranian cigarettes. That voice, you know, it's a pretty good bet she smokes. What? (READS SIGN) Mmm-hmm. Farsi for the tide in the mist. Persian woman, Persian food. Tomorrow? Tomorrow. "(PA CHATTER)" Ah, forget it. (PA) "(MUZAK PLAYS)" What? I've just never been surveilled before. I'm not surveilling you. It feels like I'm being surveilled. Well, I could split, if you slide me Lloyd Simcoe's phone number. OK. And what do I do after I get fired? A girl's gotta try. Dr Benford said that you came in while I was away. How'd it go? She says I'm doing good. Not good enough to have a baby yet. You wanna have a baby? ..but then the blackout happened and I saw myself getting a sonogram. I was pregnant. I was totally crazy. It was like being in love or something. I don't know. Maybe I'll just listen to the universe and throw the towel in on the whole thing. Listen. In your flash forward, you saw yourself pregnant. If you were really listening to the universe, you'd be trying to have that baby. Do you know how far along you were? The sonographer said four months. When I'm supposed to get pregnant. You still wanna get pregnant? Yeah Then don't, give up. I gotta go. (TV) "..Hitler, Suharto. Simcoe and Campos killed more people than all of those monsters combined." "(PHONE RINGS)" "There's a real good case to be made here. You've got the biggest mass murderers in history." "Why aren't they in jail?" Wedeck. "They haven't broken any laws." He's... "What about criminal negligence?" And no-one...? "..20 million people." Yes. "There needs to be a trial." "Simcoe went to Harvard, 1998. He got his PhD." "(TV CHATTER)" So you're here to turn yourself in? I'm not sure what we did could be construed as a crime, even if it were proven we were responsible. Act II I do not believe we caused the blackout. Well, you probably shouldn't have stood up in front of reporters and said you did. Not my choice. Hmm. Lloyd Simcoe tends to let his emotions run rampant. I don't. Any idea who is responsible then? No. But if you allowed me access to your Mosaic investigation, I'd divine the answer for you. So you wanna be deputised. I've served on three panels with the National Science Foundation, I have security clearance. You're confusing me with someone who gives a damn. I'm up for giving you, not a new career. How long do you think Washington will continue to fund an investigation into what caused the blackout My guess is unless you come up with some compelling evidence relatively soon, you'll never find out what or who caused the greatest global catastrophe in human history or if we can prevent it from happening again. How about this. You come back tomorrow morning, I'll have something to show you, we make some progress, I'll see what I can do about an official role. Because I do like you, Assistant Director Wedeck,... (PA) "# Dashing through the snow" "# In a one-horse open sleigh" How dare he come in here. He's here. Did you charter a flight? Excuse me? I'm Agent Janis Hawk with the Mosaic task force. Are you here to arrest me? Come in and talk to us. We need information and you need some protection. I'm sorry. My son's safety is my priority right now and if you've connected me to him, it won't be long before others do as well. I have to get him out of here. Let us help you. Please. It will be an opportunity - I'm not interested, OK? Just leave us alone. We're looking for a friend. She works around here, maybe eats at this restaurant. We don't have a picture but we have a recording of her voice. Can you take a listen and let us know if you recognise it. Sure. "I am sorry, there is no delicate way to say this, but on March 15th 2010, you are going to be murdered." I'm sorry. I would remember that voice if I knew who it belonged to. Now, how about some dessert? Sure, thank you. OK. Yeah, I saw it. Stand outside. Make sure no one comes in. "Ho-ho-ho! Merry Christmas!" OK. Some faludeh. Thank you. Your friend? Stepped outside. Hey, sit down, join me. The, er,... woman we're looking for, she has information we need. It's a matter of life and death. I'm so sorry. I can't help you with that. You have it backwards. If you can't help, you will be sorry. You know that woman. Not so long ago, a hotel concierge named Anush Harandi, an Iranian man, much like yourself, was taken from his home in Bangkok in the middle of the night because my government believed he had some small piece of information. His friends, his family, no one knew what happened to him. He spent two years in secret detention. My, erm, government's gotten very good at that sort of thing. Her name is Nhadra Udaya. You get her name? She comes here on the weekends but almost every night she has a late dinner at a dim sum place two blocks down. Now we just have to get her to talk. One way or another. Hey, why didn't you want me in there? I'm trying to protect you, Dem. If someone's hands are gonna get dirty, let it be mine. We've given these to our top-level analysts. They haven't been able to tell us anything useful. Well, it's a good thing I'm smarter than they are. These are highly-classified images so we've obscured anything that indicates where they were taken. Somalia. The dip slopes in the overlying limestone, the orientation of the flora, shallow waters... Just tell us what you see. Are you taking the piss? Tell us what you see. Zoom in, please. Yep. (CHUCKLES) I designed that. That is a specialised post laser for a plasma afterburner. It increases the rate of acceleration for traditional radio frequency machines. The concept should win me a Nobel in a couple of years. I must say, the modelling software you guys use is incredibly impressive. The structure almost looks real. Hm. That is a real structure. And that is a real photograph. That's not possible. The technology doesn't exist yet. We're still running numerical simulations. Well, that photograph was taken in 1991 Act III That... doesn't make sense. Who else could've come up with this idea? No one. Your unparalleled genius act is wearing thin. That's not what I mean. Look, you ask any great scientific mind what they want to achieve and the only honest answer is immortality. If you discover something that changes the world, you live forever. So whoever designed this not only had to be brilliant but didn't even care about being famous. Didn't want it. Practically fetishised their anonymity. A recluse. A paranoid. Exactly. We believe this man was somehow connected to the blackout. This is a composite sketch. Made by our field agents He was awake during the blackout and he may have been in contact with another person who was awake. We don't even know his real name. He's using the alias "D Gibbons". 'He's high efficient in computing equipment and particle-physics simulation.' 'He's been hacking into a number of high-tech facilities.' He also seems to have a penchant for chess. Hmm... A techie, chess-playing social-misfit physicist. Well, that should narrow it down(!) Have you ever seen him before, at conferences or lectures? No. But if he had anything to do with the blackout, I'll do all I can to help you find him. I'd like to give his testicles a squeeze for shocking my plasma-afterburner design. I need to find somewhere where my son can be safe. Southland University Hospital. That's less secure than here. Maybe I'm not making myself clear. You don't seem very good at that. I beg your pardon? The announcement this morning. You said that you caused the blackout, and then that you didn't mean to. It was all kind of a jumble. In my experience, innocent people tend to speak in specifics. No. No, no. I spoke in specifics. I related a series of facts, and - Southland University Hospital. I can transfer your son there. Do you want me to put it through? No. I want - I need you to find a secure facility for my son. Let's try Travers. It's a private children's hospital. In Glendale I doubt they'll have any beds. I doubt they'll have any beds. They will when I make a call. Get that started, and I'll draw up a transfer note. Be back in an hour. I don't suppose I can expect anyone to help me much in future. You need help, I'll help you. "And I, John, saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." We are here tonight to say a final goodbye to Joyce. You saw me there. Yeah! Um... No. But I'm positive you were. Joyce's death is a tragic loss. We've lost a daughter, a wife, a friend. (FADES OUT) (SOBS) Looks like we found her. OK... (SPEAKS JAPANESE) You shouldn't have come here. You called me, remember? That was a mistake, clearly. You being here now will set things in motion that will end very badly for you. Can we just skip over the histrionic action-movie cliches? Cos I'm way too jet-lagged to deal with any of that right now. Tell me who you are. I can't. Why'd you call me? I was trying to warn you. You don't know me. Why do you care if I live or die? Your death is the first in a long line of dominos I would rather not see fall down. So help us prevent it. I can't. You can - by telling us. If I tell you more, the act of telling you may bring about the unfortunate incident we are all trying to avoid. I said you would be shot three times. Shots at close range. Which means I probably know my killer. In fact, you do. He is sitting at this table right now. You, Agent Benford. You will kill Agent Noh on March 15th, with the very gun I assume you're carrying right now. A SIG-Sauer model P226. In the call you said you didn't know who killed me. Now you do. I lied because I didn't want to bring about the incident which I told you about. How could you possibly know? A, 5, 6, 1, 9, 8, 4. And, er, what is that? The serial number of your gun. It will be your gun, Agent Benford, and you will pull the trigger. And then again, and then again. You coulda found the number a different way. You could have hacked into the Bureau's gun registry. How many times have you interrogated a suspect? Look into my eyes. Your partner is going to kill you, intentionally. Why would I do that, hmm? Why? Presumably, in the next few months, a reason will present itself. Now, you've got what you've come for - No, I have more questions. I am done giving you answers. It's time for you to leave. Don't. (YELLS) You're coming with us, right now! Move, move! Move! What are we doing? Down the stairs, now! Down! Come on, come on, come on! Back off, now! Act IV Put the gun down! Hey Mark. This woman is a material witness to a murder. There has been no murder. But there will be. Will there, Agent Benford? Let her go. Mark. Nhadra, Have your men lower their guns, now. All the way down! This isn't over. It never is. Put your hands behind your back. Mr Simcoe. Hey. I have those transfer papers. Sorry for all the red tape. I appreciate it. Especially after the inconvenience I've caused you and your family. You did nothing wrong. Are you ready to get Dylan checked out? Yep. You really think there won't be another blackout? Not unless we recreate the exact conditions of our experiment, no. It was an incredibly brave thing you did, coming forward like that, taking responsibility. I think the line between brave and stupid's a pretty blurry one. Oh, I didn't say it wasn't stupid. All the same, I'd like to think I did it for the right reasons. So, you went to Harvard in '98? Yeah. It was one of the best times of my life. I was doing my doctorate. I had this beautiful apartment above a cigar shop. Levitt and Pierce? That's the one. I was supposed to go to Harvard in '98, and I was gonna live in the building next door. So, why didn't you? Because Mark got his job with the Bureau in Los Angeles, so I decided to be with him instead. My wife moved into that building. That's how I met her. Wow. So, er... So, if I had gone, we probably would have met. Have you heard of the many-worlds interpretation? No. It was coined by a physicist called Hugh Everett in the '50s. The idea is, anything that could have happened in our past actually did happen in some other universe. in another world. If you buy the theory, I suppose, in some other universe, you did go to Harvard. Hmm. And we did meet. Of course, that's not the world we live in. Nope. Thank you again for this. Sure. You're both very lucky men. I saved your lives, helped you avoid an international incident. Why are you keeping us from her? You don't need to know what Nhadra knows. Let me get you on the flight. Just a friendly service Legats provides. You're not Legats. If you were And after what went down in that alley, this whole thing stinks like a company job. We prefer the term "Central Intelligence Agency." I hate to break it to you, but Mosaic is bigger than you. Bigger than the FBI. Bigger than any intelligence organisation. You're just a... a tiny spec, Mark. A flake of dandruff on the nape of this thing's neck. But if it will make you feel better... to take a swing at me, then go right ahead. It's not like you've got anything else to lose. (PHONE RINGS) That call, I would take. "You know what I'm staring at?" I'm watching the security camera feed of you in Hong Kong. Stan - Shut up! It was sent to me by the damn US Ambassador to China. So I'm calling to congratulate you. You've succeeded in changing the future. Yeah, I got it. Here. Wedeck's orders. Looks like we finally have something in common. Neither of us are FBI. They have been following you ever since you destroyed that doll factory. Coming here was a mistake. I can't protect you. Then I'll just have to find someone who can. Act V Can I come in? Mrs Noh, I think I understand why you didn't want to talk to me about our wedding. Zoey - We need to talk about this. About what I saw. 'You were there. With Mr Noh.' I didn't see Demetri. Then I realised something. No matter how much I begged you, you'd never come to our wedding. Zoey - But you wouldn't miss your son's funeral. Why didn't you tell us? Talking about it with you, with anyone, that would make it real. Maybe before all this, we would have had difficulties with you marrying our son, but what I saw that day, that moment, the love you have for Demetri... I want you to know, we see things differently now, and we'd be proud for you to be a part of our family. We wish that was the future. We wish that more than anything. We can do more than wish. Mrs Noh, we can change the future. # "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)" - John Lennon (TV) Answer one question. Are these the shadows of things that will be, or that may be? Spirit, hear me, I am not the man I was. Assure me that I may yet these change these shadows you show me. I will live in the past, the present and the future, and not shut out the lessons they teach. I'm sorry. What are you sorry for? It's my murder. My problem. Meanwhile, I'm sitting here with your badge in my pocket. I'm not gonna shoot you, Dem. I'm not gonna let this investigation kill you, either. No matter what happens. Smile, Bryce. Haven't you heard? It's the most wonderful time of year. What's this? Open it and find out. It's a lucky cat. Maneki neko in Japanese. Depending upon which paw is raised promises different things for your future. What does the right paw indicate? Luck in love. (CHUCKLES) Thanks, Nicole. Don't worry,... you'll find her. I gotta go. I'm not surveilling you again, I promise. I'm here on a personal matter, I swear. How can I help you? Do you remember that whole... not-giving-up thing we were talking about earlier? Mm-hm. If I was to start trying now, what exactly should I be doing? First of all, this is for a prenatal vitamin... Erm, that's all great. Erm,... I need something a little more... basic. I'm actually gonna be doing this alone and the whole... penis thing is kind of a problem for me 'cause... I don't like them. Ah. You're,... you're gay? I'm super gay. Super gay? Yeah. And you need a sperm bank? Yeah. I know of a good one. Cubit Fertility Clinic, there's a doctor by the name of Jane Parker. Just tell her I sent you. She's great. Thank you, Dr Varley. I really appreciate it. No problem. I tell you, you're gonna love the ambulance, Dylan. Mr Simcoe, we'll be transporting you and your son. Thank you. All ready to go? Dr Benford. I just came to see you off, make sure everything went OK. Are you ready, little man? Yeah, he's ready, he's just a little shy. I'm not sure if you've had your training, but, er, Dylan's autistic. We've had training. OK. Sweetie, are you ready to get in the ambulance with these guys and your dad? Come on, let's do it. There we go. Yeah, it's gonna be fun. I've got a secret for you. Cool people call them ambos. Ambos? Ambos, that's right. Ambos. That's right. You're gonna go for a ride in the ambo. No. 478 00:37:47,621 --> 00:37:49,665 It's OK. It's alright, buddy. Bye, Dylan. I'll miss you, kiddo. See you in a sec. Thanks, guys. So I guess this is the part where we, er... Wish each other a... nice life. Something like that. Come here. So, the many-worlds theory, is that something you believe in? Oh, well, many physicists do these days. You didn't answer the question. (CHUCKLES) And out of respect, I'm,... I'm not going to. Thank you again, Olivia. And goodbye. Oh, hold on. Wait, wait, wait. Hang on there. Easy. Hang on there. Get his legs in. Hey, let go of his arm! You said you were trained. We don't have time for this. We're on a schedule. Excuse me? Bill, can you get down here?! Yeah? Er, I don't know what's going on here, but... (GUNSHOTS / SCREAMING) No, please, don't hurt her! Get in the van. I'll come with you. Please. Get in the van! Go! (DYLAN CRIES) Dylan, it's gonna be OK. Agh! Dad! No, Dad! Dad! Ssshhh. Subtitles CHINER